the town dandy / By Hank Sims

The Cram-down

It would appear that Hurwitz, here, is counting on what is known in bankruptcy court as a “cram-down.” Generally, recovery plans are voted upon according to a complex formula. Most everyone — owners, various classes of creditors — has to agree to a certain plan. But when no agreement is reached, the judge has the ability to “cram” a plan through, over the objections of the dissenters, if certain conditions written into the bankruptcy code are met. Maxxam’s bankruptcy filings note that their primary plan is, alas, not crammable. So unless everyone agrees to it — never happen — it is dead. However, the company believes that its alternative plans are eminently crammable. If the judge agrees — and if Marathon and the bondholders unite over a single, opposition plan — Maxxam’s “alternative plans” aren’t going to be alternative much longer.

It looks likethe county is undergoing one of its periodic outbreaks of democracy. As everyone knows by now, Supervisor John Woolley, who has represented the Arcata area on the Board of Supervisors since 1996, announced on Monday that he would not be seeking a fourth term in office. Woolley told the Times-Standard that he wanted to narrow his focus, and looked forward to delving deep into a few important policy issues, such as global warming and the county general plan update.

The surprise announcement instantly created a vacuum in the left-leaning Third Supervisorial District, where Woolley had hitherto been an unbeatable force of nature. But “surprise announcement” may not be the best phrase for it, because the rush to fill the void has apparently been underway for some time. And now it looks like there will likely be a bona fide election up Arcata way come June 3.

At least three big-name candidates have sprung up in the days following the Woolley announcement, though at the moment of this writing they’re all in the “seriously considering it” phase of their pre-candidacies. Each of them have natural constituencies, and if they all go for it the Arcata progressive community is going to be spoiled for choice.

First out of the gate was Humboldt Bay District Commissioner Mike Wilson, who despite insisting that he is still only mulling a run, apparently mulled it enough to register the websites “mikeforsupervisor.org” and “wilsonforsupervisor.com.” (Alternative transportation activist Aaron Antrim — a known Wilson partisan — registered the names on Sunday, the day before Woolley made his announcement.) The 39-year-old Wilson has served on the Bay District for just over two years, most of the time serving as the sole voice of dissent on matters relating to the mass industrialization of Humboldt Bay.

Reached Tuesday, former Arcata City Councilmember Elizabeth Conner, director of the Humboldt Bay Housing Development Corporation, confirmed that she, too, was considering a run for Woolley’s position. She said that she had already received offers of support and assistance, but was still deciding whether or not a seat on the Board of Supervisors would be the best place to concentrate her efforts. Conner resigned from the Arcata City Council so as to avoid conflicts of interests pertaining to her day job, but she said that she would resign her position if elected to the board. She said she’d have a decision by the end of the week.

Finally, timber activist Mark Lovelace, also widely known as a smart growth advocate, said that he has been encouraged to run for the position. “It’s something that I’ve considered,” Lovelace said Tuesday. “And let’s just say that I haven’t said no.”

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